Career Advice Community for People Over 50 Years of Age

President Obama is currently telling the USA and the world about how this country will win the future by reinventing ourselves and our workforce. He says this nation is 9th in the world in earned college degrees! He says the future jobs will be won and held by innovators who are educating themselves and reinventing their skill sets. And I agree.

In my book, “Laid Off & Loving It for 2010,” I describe 30 people who built on their skills and reinvented themselves. America’s Job Coach has reinvented himself several times over the years. My advice to that 55 year-old college student the president mentioned in his speech, is that she should appear to be moldable and teachable when she goes on job interviews.

How about you? Can you be like the woman from (I think) South Carolina who is, at age 55, now going to college and studying biotech. More power to her–I hope she competes well with the 22 year-olds with their newly minted degrees. I vote for her in the job as she competes with those “kids” –life experinece rules!

Obama is also championing the role of teachers as nation-builders in the new world economy. How about you? If/when they actually do raise teacher incomes could YOU build our nation by building our youth? Millions of baby boomers are going to retire from classrooms in the next 10 years and there is a growing younger population due to current immigration and birth trends. Teaching is rewarding and important. How about YOU?

It may have been Mother Theresa who said we can make a better world if we start by sweeping our own back steps. Kinda ties in with the theme of Union inside yourself.

If you are struggling with knowing what to do, then here is your answer: DO SOMETHING. IF you have disunion in your head or your heart, take some kind of action and reinvent yourself.

So don’t be disunified–go out and do big things. Dream big and may God Bless the United States!

Just read an article about “older” workers (45 and older) who fear that after they have been laid off they’ll never work again. Frightening !

They put in lengthy, sometimes well-paid careers and after they have been cast aside during a layoff or downsizing, they can’t find anything close to what they had. And this happens during the years when they are supposed to be at their earnings peak. According to this New York Times story 2.2 million of the 15 million unemployed are over 55 years old.

So what to do? Will the economy be able to absorb 15 million people who are now out of work? Or even 1/2 of that amount?

What will you do if it can’t?

I’d love to hear your comments here: Share with the readers how people you know (or you yourself) have reinvented themselves (yourself).

Do you know of a corporate accountant who now runs an antique shop? How about a purchasing director who now is a locksmith. Are they “making it?” Tell us your story and inspire others!

Just heard a new term the other day…”A 99er.” Those of you who are on long-term unemployment compensation through your state know what that is: After 99 weeks on unemployment, the government stops paying you.

Is this right? Should this happen? What about folks who are trying to find a job but just can’t…does the government owe them even more than 99 weeks of unemployment insurance compensation? Sound off via a comment on this blog if you’d like.

99 weeks is nearly two years. America’s Job Coach thinks most folks should be able to find SOME kind of job in that amount of time. Yes, many will have to move down since the kind of job they used to do at their old pay rate may not exist anymore.

AJC says that if the best accomplishment you have on your resume for the last two years is your strong ability to cash an unemployment check, then you don’t have very much appeal to a potential employer if you do luck into a job interview!

Do it…take something to have something. You may take a pay cut from the unemployment rate in order to get one of these “move down” jobs. But again, you will show a potential “real” employer (the kind you used to have) that you are ambitious enough to do “whatever it takes.”

I know there are thousands of actual cases of discrimination, disability and disproportionate pay etc. out there. I am not trying to make anyone mad here and realize there is always a story behind the story.

I am simply suggesting that all of us need to focus on contributing to any employer (or customer if you form your own little firm while you job hunt) while you work to avoid becoming a 99er.

You can do it!! Maybe some coaching videos from Doug Hindman (jobsearchguru channel) on Youtube.com can help.

America’s Job Coach made a longer, analytical (and of course profound) commentary regarding the “jobless recovery” a few months ago. Therefore, I won’t rehash that post here. I bring it up again now because that phrase was in the headlines again today. “The Jobless Recovery.” That is frightening stuff!

Is it really a recovery if there are too few jobs to help individuals “recover?” If people don’t get jobs will they have any money to stimulate the economy?

The administration today stated that they feel that the unemployment rate will hover around 9% for the rest of the year. That means somewhere close to 13 million people may become or remain unemployed!

Whether you are unemployed, underemployed, or just restless in your career, how will you react to this news? If jobs are still scarce, do you have a backup plan? What will you do if you need to make a change or an upgrade and a jobless recovery limits your options?

I met with a job coaching client tonight and he has/had a traditional career (in the computer industry) yet his passion and love is in the music world. We are going to work on ways to make that happen and it represents some outside the box thinking along the lines of self-employment. Stay tuned…

How about you? What ideas do you have for self-employment, contracting, temping, odd work until your big ship comes in? Share them here, please! Let’s beat this jobless recovery together!

It is helpful for all people who are in or considering a career change or upgrade. Seeing where things are headed, even if you don’t have the background to specifically do some of these specialized jobs is helpful. Why?

Because you can look at these fast growing functions and use the skills you DO have to SUPPORT these growing professions!